This invention relates to an improved surgical wound closure element. The improvement allows for the sequential motion without jamming, of a plurality of closure elements in a feed track. In the feed track, the legs of an element are adjacent the crown of a preceding element. This invention specifically relates to a feed track containing two or more surgical wound closure elements. The invention can be useful in a ligating instrument containing a plurality of ligating clips and is useful in a surgical stapler containing a plurality of staples. See, e.g., an improved surgical stapler described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,086 issued Oct. 21, 1986 or 4,634,035 issued Jan. 6, 1987. These patents are incorporated by reference.
This invention decreases the frictional resistance between the plurality of closure elements and the feed track. An advantage of this is that the force required to linearly move a plurality of closure elements in the feed track is reduced. Another advantage is that a greater number of closure elements can be loaded into a surgical cartridge or magazine.
In combination with either or both U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,086 and 4,634,035, which are incorporated by reference, the improvement to the closure element cartridge enables the use of a very thin feed delivery system. This advantage cannot be overemphasized. Specifically, this advantage provides greater visibility of the crimping mechanism, e.g. an anvil for a surgical staple or a pair of jaws for a ligating clip, and therefore vastly improves, if not insures, proper placement of a closure element at the wound site.
This invention makes possible the feeding of a plurality of closure elements in a surgical instrument cartridge, e.g. a plurality of more than about twenty, which are sequentially in direct contact with one another in a leg to crown configuration.
It is an object of this invention to minimize friction in a feed track. The friction magnifies exponentially with the number of closure elements in the feed track.